Phases Of The Night
by reynabeth
Summary: When he's reunited with an old friend, Leo Valdez discovers he's in for the night of a lifetime. With several fences, a couple of close shaves, and one gorgeous girl, will he come out of the night with his dignity intact?


**So much effort went into this so I hope you guys like it! The hours and hours of work I did mean I would really appreciate it if you'd leave a review, or if you'd favourite/follow this** _ **thing**_ **. Also, unlike Leo and Calypso, I don't like the song Shut Up And Dance, but you can always check it out (though it's highly unlikely you haven't already heard it!)**

 **Disclaimer: I own** _ **nothing**_ **except the plot! All the lovely characters belong to Rick Riordan, my savior/murderer.**

 **Sorry if the characters are a little OOC? I tried really hard to make them more realistic to the books, but I'm not sure how much I succeeded :s**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

 _Brrrrring!_ Startled, I jump as the deafening ring of the bell echoes through the corridors. 'Leo, bro, are you okay?' my friend Jason asks, concern wrinkling his face. 'You've been like that all lunchtime.'

'Like what?' I murmur, only half-listening.

'Jumpy, and inattentive - you're not listening now! What is with you today?'

'It's her...I'm sure I recognise her...' Truth is, I've been staring at this girl the whole time - not in a creepy way, I'm just sure I know her from somewhere. She has caramel coloured hair, braided with feathers, and tan skin. I know her, but I'm not sure where from.

Then it hits me.

'Piper!' I shout, ploughing through the hordes of students stampeding to their classes. 'Piper McLean!' She turns, startled, and, upon seeing me, her eyes widen - almost imperceptibly, but I see it. Of course, of _course_ I see it. I know everything about her - at least I did, anyway. She mouths my name - _Leo_ \- and it's so familiar yet so different. Then the crowds jostle and push her away. The last I see of her is her shocked, disbelieving face, staring at me over her shoulder. I recognise that expression. Hell, I recognise all her expressions. That sounds a little creepy - again - but the thing is, I know Piper. At least, I used to. Now? I'm not so sure. She's definitely changed since we were kids. Piper and I were super tight when we were in elementary school, but she had to move away at the start of sixth grade, and I never saw her again. Until now. Who would have thought it? Piper McLean - at our school!

'Uh...bro...?' Jason's caught up with me, and is giving me a weird look. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, I'm good.' I shake myself out of my thoughts, and follow the crowd to class.

I see her again after school. Hopefully, I'll see her a lot more soon, but for now I'll settle with re-meeting my best friend (from childhood, anyway.) 'So. Leo Valdez.' A voice, from behind me. _Her_ voice. I've always thought Piper had a nice voice - although, just to be clear, I'm not, like, _into_ her or anything. That would be weird; she's my best friend! Was. Was my best friend.

I spin around to see Piper standing at my shoulder. 'Hey,' I smile. 'I see you're still taller than me.' Piper was always taller than me - but then I'm, like, abnormally short.

'Of course,' she mumbles, sounding a little surprised. 'Um...do you want to get coffee? Catch up?'

'Sure!' My voice sounds a little more high-pitched than normal. I guess it's just hard for me to believe the other half of my childhood superhero duo is back.

Piper's car is shiny and new, and she grimaces at it like she'd rather have a broken old minivan, that was once your mom's and has a distinct smell of cat puke. (Not that I'm bitter, or anything.) Sliding into the passenger seat, I inhale the delicious aroma of fresh leather and oil. It's _so_ much nicer than the lingering stench of Fluffy's breakfast from two years ago. (Yeah, I'll repeat what I said about not being bitter. It's not my mom's fault she won't buy me a proper car.)

The closest coffee shop to our school is a Starbucks, so Piper messily parallel parks on the double yellow lines and leaps out, carelessly slamming the car door. I slide out, still a little in awe from the beautiful beast of a car. Starbucks is filled with people from our school, the girls sporting orange fake tans and spades of makeup, the boys flaunting muscles and perfectly gelled hair, which probably took them several hours to do. Piper and I find a table in the corner, and I settle down in the seat, trying not to let my curiosity show on my face. 'So...' I begin, unsure on where to start. 'How's life?'

She winces, and I immediately realise I was being a bit tactless. 'You want the nice answer or the honest answer?'

'Honest, of course,' I smile reassuringly, 'I'm a very honest person.'

'Sure...' She drags out the _u_ sound sarcastically.

'Hey!' We grin, and for a moment it's like the old days again.

'Anyway,' she continues, 'life's pretty crap, to be honest. My dad's still too wrapped up in his work to spend time with me, and his assistant Jane hates me, I swear. And, of course, still no sign of my mom.' Piper's mom took off just after Piper was born, so she has no memories of her. Piper's always been pretty cut up about it, and she feels it's her fault her mom left her. I've reassured her countless times that it wasn't her fault her mom was a bit crap, but I don't know how much it helps.

'Yeah, well, my mom's pretty busy as well,' I attempt to change the subject. 'With work, and stuff. No sign from my dad, either.' A missing parent is one big thing Piper and I have in common. In fact, it was how we bonded! In first grade, we had to write about our parents, and I started crying because I didn't know what to put. Piper came over and tried to comfort me, before saying, 'you can just make your dad up! That's what I'm doing with my mommy.'

'You don't have a mom?' I had asked her.

'I don't remember her.' Piper's bottom lip had quivered, and I still remember feeling bad about it.

'So, bit of a coincidence we ended up at the same school, then?' Piper's voice jolts me from my thoughts.

'Y - yeah...I thought I'd never see you again...' My voice sounds faraway and strange.

'Well, you'll be seeing a lot more of me!' Piper chuckles, and it's a strange, rich sound, so different from her high-pitched childhood giggle. I guess she really has changed.

'Should I see you tomorrow?' I ask, feeling bold.

'Sure.' Her phone buzzes, and she fishes it out of her purse. Grimacing at the screen, she shoves it back into her bag. 'It's Jane,' she says apologetically. 'I need to go. Sorry.'

'It's okay,' I say, not letting my disappointment leak through onto my face. 'I'll see you tomorrow.'

She grabs my arm and scribbles a number onto it. 'My cellphone number,' she says, by way of explanation, 'shoot me a text, tomorrow, whenever, and I'll see you then.' She smiles, but her phone buzzes again, and her face falls. 'Got to go!' She leaps up and hurries out of the cafe, shooting me a remorseful, sad smile as she leaves.

The next morning, my phone vibrates. I snatch it with fumbling fingers and check the text.

 _Piper McLean: Hey L, want 2 meet?_

I grin, part happy, part relieved that she remembered.

 _Me: Sure, where?_

 _Piper McLean: There's a cool vintage store 10 min walk from the school..._

 _Me: Oh yeah I know that 1._

 _Piper McLean: Awesome. C U in 5?_

Crap. I'm in pyjamas, I look a mess and - as I test with a quick sniff under my armpit - I stink.

 _Me: Uh...maybe 10?_

 _Piper McLean: Yea sure. C U!_

 _Me: Yeah bye :)_

The store Piper's talking about is called _Lizzy K's Box Of Treasure._ I'm afraid to say I've always mocked the name - but then again, I've never actually been in, so I guess I shouldn't really judge. It gets a lot of customers, but mainly because it's the only vintage clothes shop around.

Quickly, I tug on jeans and a t-shirt, apply deodorant (which is probably good for the people around me) comb my fingers through my hair, and then sprint out of the door - still half-asleep - letting the sudden icy breeze carry my hasty goodbye back to my mom.

Lizzy K's is empty for once, apart from Piper, who's already waiting for me. She also looks like she's just got up, which reassures me somewhat. 'You good?' she asks, with a friendly smirk. I nod, still half-asleep, and she takes my elbow to guide me through the streets. 'You're always like a zombie in the morning,' she laughs, and I manage another nod.

'Long night...' I grunt as an excuse for my exhausted behaviour.

'Sure.' She flashes me another smirk - this one more teasing - and it's the traditional Piper smirk: a lifted eyebrow, perfectly arched, and a curl in the corner of her mouth, accompanied by a flash of something teasing in her eyes, something that made you feel like this was your own private joke with her, that was for you and nobody else. Piper may look stupid doing many things, but smirking isn't one of them. Now that I'm finally awake, I'm able to pay attention to where we're actually going. I vaguely recognise the area, but it doesn't seem to be somewhere I go often, because I can't work out where our destination is; it's surprising really, I pride myself on knowing every inch of our small, boring town, yet here comes this mysterious, familiar yet strange girl and immediately shows me places I've never seen before.

'We're going to the abandoned casino,' says Piper matter-of-factly, seemingly reading my mind.

'Excuse me?' As far as I know, there's no casinos - abandoned or not - for miles around; this place isn't Las Vegas!

'Abandoned casino,' repeats Piper, as if I'm supposed to know what she's talking about.

'Yeah...I don't know of any casinos...' I'm really confused now.

'Not many people do.' Piper pulls me through a gate - we're right out in the countryside now - before continuing. 'I found it one day, before I left, when exploring. As far as I can figure, it used to be big back in the 1900s. Then some freak accident stopped customers and caused it to go bankrupt. It must've been so embarrassing, no one mentioned it again!' She looks pleased with herself.

'Yeah, that's cool, but I know a better abandoned place.' I'm boasting a little now - after all, what could be better than an abandoned casino? - but it _is_ pretty cool.

'Oh yeah?'

'Yeah. A deserted fairground.'

She stops and stares at me with an admiring gaze. 'Leo Valdez, where did you come from, and where are you going?'

'I came from the past and I'm going to the future.' I shrug. No big deal. The fairground is pretty awesome though - I've never been inside, but I've seen it from the outside of the fence, and I've always wanted to break in. I've never actually had the guts to - but I'm not about to admit that to Piper.

'Yeah,' I continue, 'it's cool.'

'Take me there.' Piper's eyes are gleaming, and it's a dangerous gleam that screams adventure and adrenaline and amazement. When you see the gleam, you know you're probably going to die at some point.

I lead Piper back the way we came, and then through a tangle of streets with ease. To anyone else, it might seem impossible to navigate, but, like I said, I know my town inside out. I've lived here all my life, after all.

Eventually, we reach the final turning. I step around the corner, and there it is. First, there's a long, long, long lane, a river of dust and heat, stretching out for what seems like miles. The air shimmers and ripples above the surface, and the only wind is an intermittent, warm, weak breeze, that doesn't do anything to cool down the heat of the afternoon - it is the afternoon, isn't it? I check my watch, and I'm surprised to find it's already two o'clock. The day's gone pretty quickly, I guess.

'So.' Piper breaks the silence that has been hanging between us, another fence in my life.

'Yeah,' I agree. 'I know it looks like a long way, but it isn't as far as it seems...still, in this heat...'

'You're right.' Piper sounds very decisive - not a good sign. 'Let's come back tonight?'

'Tonight? Why tonight?' I'm stalling, hesitating, trying to put off the inevitable truth: tonight, we _are_ going to have to go to the creepy abandoned fairground, and we _are_ going to have to spend a decent amount of time there. I don't bother saying no, because there's no point. Something about Piper makes her almost irresistible; she knows exactly how to play people until she's got them twisted around her little finger. Piper always gets exactly what she wants. It's not one of her best qualities. She just gives you the trademark smirk, states precisely what she wants, and that's it. You find yourself tripping over your feet to supply her with whatever she demands.

She doesn't even have to reply to my question before I agree.'Sure,' I sigh. 'I guess I'll see you tonight.'

'Excellent!' Piper beams, a smile full of sunshine. 'See you then!' And she hurries off, seemingly knowing where she's going. I wait a few minutes, wondering why exactly I agreed to that. Finally, I shake myself out of my daze and wander off down the road.

Five minutes later I get a text from Piper.

 _Piper McLean: I'm lost. Care 2 help me out?_

I laugh aloud. I knew she'd lose her way - that's another of her not-so-good traits: she can get lost anywhere. Even in her own school.

 _Me: Haha. Where r u?_

Her reply comes seconds later.

 _Piper McLean: By some bigass tree + a beat up kiddy park._

 _Me: Ohhh, yeah, I know that place. Be there in 5._

 _Piper McLean: K. C U then._

I set off at a leisurely jog, moving in long, loping strides (okay, not that long. It's not my fault I have short legs!) speeding up until I'm sprinting the last stretch. Piper is standing on the street corner, looking frazzled and stressed. No wonder, really, even I could get my directions mixed up in this maze. 'Come on, follow me!' I call to her, not stopping running, but instead slowing back down into a jog. She leaps off the kerb and begins to run after me.

'You know I can't - keep - up -,' she's panting already, breathing hard after a minute of running, maybe two. I stop dead, and she nearly crashes into me. A bead of sweat slides down her pink, flushed face. 'You should join the track team,' she gasps, but I shake my head.

'I'm not good enough. Anyway, they probably wouldn't want someone like me.' I don't bother explaining further. I don't want to talk about it. Piper just accepts my sudden silence, and we start walking again.

I'm jittery and restless for the remainder of the day, leaping several feet into the air every time someone says my name. Sudden noises make me twitch, and people's voices make me jiggle from foot to foot. Yeah, I guess you could say I'm pretty freaked out. I mindlessly scroll through Tumblr in an attempt to relax, but instead it does the exact opposite when I stumble across Piper's blog, instantly reminding me of what we're doing tonight. Finally, she texts me.

 _Piper McLean: C U 12?_

 _Me: Oh, god, fine._

 _Piper McLean: Yay! C U then!_

Yes. I'll see her then. Wondering why, _why,_ I agreed to this, I slide into bed fully clothed. Seriously, I agreed to break into a creepy abandoned fairground in the middle of the night! Why?

By eleven, I'm tossing and turning, unable to get even a few minutes of sleep, desperately wishing for the night go be over. I mean, I love a bit of adventure as much as the next person, but let's just say I'm not the bravest guy I know.

Suddenly, there's a short, sharp knock on the window. I squeak with fright and jump out of bed, instinctively backing towards the door. A ghostly face peers through the glass - Piper? Why the _hell_ is Piper knocking on my window an hour early? She gives up trying to open the window and instead beckons me over. 'What do you want?' I mouth.

'Let...me...in!' I watch her lips shape each word, and then shake my head. The window is another fence between us, but it's one I'd like to keep, thank you very much.

'Please?' With a sigh, I open the window and Piper leaps into my room with a _thud._ Casting a quick eye over my outfit, she beams. 'You're all ready to go!'

She places a hand on the small of my back and propels me towards the window. 'Um, you're early...' I start.

'I know,' she interrupts, 'but I was bored.'

I heave a sigh and then clamber out of the window with about as much grace as a drunk horse. Piper follows me, easily leaping over the frame and shimmying down the drainpipe.

Piper's car is messily parked outside, half on the pavement, the rear end sticking out into the road. 'I'll drive, you can navigate,' she says, sliding into the driver's seat. I'm secretly disappointed that I don't get to drive the beast of an automobile, but at least I get another ride in it. Sitting in Piper's car almost makes up for having to infiltrate the spooky fairground. Almost.

I direct Piper through the mess of twists and turns until we reach the last street. 'From now on, we walk,' I state. Piper groans, but hops out of the car and I follow. The darkness envelops me, a cold, soft blanket, casting shadows over the surroundings. Stars glimmer in the sky, sequins on the great cloth of night.

Our footsteps echo through the cold, crisp air. I tilt my head back and stare at the sky. It's a beautiful colour: the colour of the ocean, the deep, deep ocean, the shade of mystery, intrigue, and fear. The hue of silence, of the total loneliness of the night. The colour of wonder, wonder on cold faces, dwarfed by the expanse of starry fields.

'Here we are.' Piper's voice shatters the silence that hangs between us, a great weight on our shoulders. Before us looms a fence, towering into the night.

I turn to look at her. 'What now?'

'Now? We climb.' She sets off towards the fence and jumps, wrapping her hands around the bars, before starting to pull herself up. I watch, open-mouthed.

'Come on!' she calls down, an exhilarated smile breaking out on her face. Slowly, I take hold of the bars and begin to climb, not wanting to be left behind. It turns out to be much easier than I thought - until I get stuck. It takes Piper several minutes to coax me up any further, by which time she's ready and raring to go. From the top, I can see the whole fairground. In the dark, it's pretty spooky. Someone screams in the distance, followed by a short burst of slightly hysterical laughter. As I clamber over the top and begin to make my way down - thanking my lucky stars there's no barbed wire - Piper reaches the bottom. She jumps up and down, waiting for me impatiently.

Suddenly, there's a bark in the distance, and shouts, getting closer and closer towards us. A panicked look flashes across Piper's face. 'Go!' I hiss down to her. 'I'll follow you!' She turns and sprints away into the depths of the amusement park.

I don't make it.

I see something coming out of the darkness towards me. The _thing_ sails towards me, a missile of destruction. _It's going quite fast_ , I think to myself. What is it, though? Oh. It's a rock. A big one. That's going to hurt. Time slows down as I wait. Breath, in, out, in, out. I brace myself for impact. As it hits me, I think, _I'm going to die._

I blink, and the world begins to come back into focus. No sign of Piper. I don't even know which side of the fence I'm on. As my vision sharpens, I sit up, rubbing my head, and let out a groan of pain. I can't remember what happened - did I fall? Was I hit? I look around. Nothing of use. Things are scattered everywhere - little pieces of memories, abandoned. Teddies, pictures - even, by my feet, a battered cushion. That's when I hear it. A dog barking - and barking, and barking, and barking, the noise getting louder and louder. Why is it getting louder? It takes me several seconds - and the sound of footsteps - to realise the dog is getting closer. From the sound of it, there's a person as well. Angry, maybe? Their footsteps are loud and violent, as if they're out for blood.

I look around, desperate for something I could use to defend myself. In the end, I grab the cushion and brace myself.

A dog bounds into the clearing, snapping at my feet, and then a person joins us.

'Ralf! Get down!' The dog turns and returns to the person's feet. I look at them, scared to move in case the dog charges me again. A - a girl? A _teenage_ girl? She has long, cinnamon coloured hair tied back in a messy ponytail, and a beautiful face coated in dark face paint. Her clothes are all black, and coated in a thin layer of dust and dirt, as if she's been rolling around in the bushes! My mouth falls open - maybe it's a little shallow, but she's really, really, _really_ hot. As I stare, entranced, she strides towards me and closes my mouth with a _snap_. She opens her mouth to say something - and then she's interrupted. By Piper. Bursting into the clearing. At the worst possible time: just as I was about to talk to the most gorgeous girl I've ever met. Piper freezes on the spot, a worried expression flitting across her face. Mystery Girl opens her mouth again, and this time she speaks. 'You'd both better come with me.'

'My name is Calypso,' she tells us as we walk to where she's apparently parked her car. 'I work for an undercover spy agency hidden in this fairground. We tend not to associate with the likes of you,' she turns up her nose, 'but I thought I'd help you out. Unfortunately, seeing as you could have taken vital information, you are now a target - and so am I, because I'm covering for you.'

There's silence as I take it all in. 'Ohhhhh-kay...' I finally sigh. 'That's - that's a little hard to believe...'

'I know. Just trust me.'

I decide not to argue, and we continue walking in silence.

When we finally reach Calypso's car, my legs are sore and my eyelids are heavy. Why did she have to park so far away? It doesn't look like much - a small blue Fiat, with more dents and scrapes than my mom's minivan - but you can tell Calypso loves it by the look in her eyes. She reaches into her pocket for the keys. We wait. Nothing. Confused, she rummages around in each of her pockets. Still nothing. She curses and stamps her foot angrily. 'I _knew_ I should have brought a handbag!'

'Um - what does this-' Piper tries to form a sentence, but the cold evening appears to have numbed her lips. I always thought she had a low tolerance for cold.

'This _means_ ,' Calypso snaps, 'that we're locked out. No ride. Nothing.'

'Wait...what are we going to do then?' I ask.

'My friend has a spare key. Unfortunately, she's on holiday. In Alaska. With no phone signal.'

'So...?'

'So, we walk.'

With a groan, I set off after Calypso who's marching briskly down the street the way we came. 'Where are we going?' I ask, hoping that it's not too far. My feet are throbbing and my legs ache, and my eyelids are weights dragging down my face.

'Bookshop,' she says sharply. Bookshop? Why would an undercover spy take two exhausted teenagers to a bookshop in the middle of the night?

I'm almost asleep on my feet by the time we stop - at _last_ \- outside a little...shop? No, café. No, wait - I know this place! Through my haze of sleep, I realise I'm standing in front of The Bookshop Café, my go-to place for coffee every morning. I love it there; it's literally a combination of a bookshop and a café, and it makes killer cappuccinos.

'I work here,' states Calypso, bending down and rifling around in a plant pot until she produces a key.

'But I come here every day and I've never - oh, wait... I have seen you! You're the b-' I stop myself from saying _beauty -_ 'barista who takes my immensely complicated order every morning!'

'I wondered when you'd guess,' she grins, and it strikes me that that's the first time I've seen her smile.

Piper, who's been silent this whole time, chimes in. 'Sorry to interrupt your blossoming love affair, but can we please go in? I'm desperate for some coffee.' I blush bright pink and begin to splutter, but luckily Calypso puts me out of my misery by unlocking the door and propelling me inside.

Two cappuccinos and a chocolate brownie later - on the house, courtesy of Calypso - I'm good to go again. 'So,' I ask, 'where exactly are we headed?'

'The S - I mean, the agency -' I feel like she's let slip something important here, but I'm not sure what - 'know I work here. They'll be sending some agents any minute. We have to leave, and soon.'

'But where?' It's Piper who asks the question that's been laying heavily on my tongue.

'Somewhere where they'll find it difficult to discover us. Somewhere where there's lots of noise. Somewhere where there are tons of innocent people. And somewhere where they'll be unlikely to look for us straight away.'

'So...?'

'A nightclub. We go to a nightclub.' A nightclub? That's...an interesting choice of hideout...still, I can see how it'd be effective. And anything this beautiful woman says I'm down with. Not because of her looks, but because she knows what she's doing. Yeah, she _definitely_ knows what she's doing.

Unfortunately, we're going to have to walk there, so I grab several energy bars and shove them in my pockets when no one's looking. Hey, it's good to be prepared!

Judging from the stars, it's about two in the morning. (Not really. I asked Calypso what the time was.) How can so little time have passed? It feels like we've been going for the whole night, but the entire thing's only taken three hours so far!

Anyway, the stars do look nice, sparkling in the silent sky. A shooting star sails overhead, and I make a wish. I can't say what, though, or it won't come true. The streets are empty and quiet, lined with dark houses and cold, empty cars.

Music pumps through vibrating speakers, lights flash and swirl, people scream and dance. Ah, the sweet scent of the club. Calypso got us in, but she didn't have to - I have a fake ID, I've had it for a year now, and the bouncers are pretty laid back anyway.

Calypso, Piper and I shove our way through the crowds to the bar, where there's some space. 'What are we gonna do?' Piper hisses.

'They won't find us here,' Calypso says calmly - too calmly. 'It's too busy. They wouldn't risk wasting time.'

'Are you sure?' I ask.

'Yep.' Calypso orders a cocktail, and leans against the bar, apparently having a great time. Me? Not so much. My whole body is tense and my face is covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

The song changes to _Shut Up And Dance_ , a song which is universally acknowledged by all as one of the worst songs ever written. Well, I say by all. It's kind of my guilty pleasure.

'Oh, I love this song!' says Calypso, before flushing bright red. 'I - I mean-'

'I like it too!' I exclaim.

'Oh, thank God I'm not the only one. It was getting embarrassing.'

'For me, it's always been embarrassing.' We smile, and I feel like this is a special moment that can't be stolen, altered or deleted.

I order a drink...and another, and another, and another.

The thick heat of the nightclub dulls my senses yet sends my mind into overdrive. Everything's funny - like that bald guy! Look at his _head!_ And that woman: her hair is through the roof - literally. Ohhhhh, wait, that's just smoke. Smoke! In a nightclub! That's hilarious! Calypso's still drinking - am I? Oh, yes - that's my...fifth? Sixth? Jeez, that's _funny._ And you know what would be a good idea? If I got Calypso to do karaoke! I bet she has an awful voice, it's going to be _hilarious._ 'Calypso!' My tongue feels thick in my mouth, but oh well. 'Calypso..I yare dou...no, dare you to...kareokeeeeee...'

Calypso laughs, a strangely sober giggle, considering the circust - circuman - circum - never mind.

Calypso steps onto the stage. She looks beautiful, and I tell her so, shouting as loud as I can, my words thick and slurred. She begins to sing - I don't recognise the song, but holy _shit_ does she have a good voice. Like an angel, spiralling towards heaven. She finishes and leaves the podium to the cheers of the crowd. I try to reach her, but I find myself feeling sick. Maybe I am a little bit drunk after all.

Calypso leads me out into the clean air outside the nightclub. She reaches into her bag and pulls something out, the expression on her face leading me to believe it's something really, really nice.

Let's just say it's a bit of a shock when she dumps the contents of her water bottle over my head.

Gasping, I break out from my drunken stupor. 'What - what's happening?' I choke out.

'The agents are here. I made a mistake. We gotta run. Now.'

Piper, who had been watching from a safe distance, smirking at me, jumps to attention. 'Where?' she asks.

'Somewhere we can lose them. I'd say the forest over that way.' Oh. There. The forest sits on the outskirts of town, a terrifying dark shadow looming over our happy little community.

Behind us, there are shouts and crashes. Shock covers Calypso's face for a moment, before she replaces it with her usual calm mask. 'Run,' she says, and for once I do exactly as I'm told, breaking into a sprint just behind the others.

It's funny - Piper's unfit, and she's not a good runner, but something - maybe the adrenaline - is driving her forwards, and she doesn't seem tired at all, like I would expect her to be by now. Then again, Piper always seems different when she's excited.

I like to think I'm in fairly good shape, but racing across town in the darkness, pursued by several professional _spies_ , and trying to keep up with two girls who are (much) faster than you? I'm soon gasping for breath, and we're only halfway there.

'Come _on!_ ' Calypso hisses, and I try to break through my exhaustion and keep going.

Eventually, after taking a roundabout route through town, we reach the outskirts of the forest. The loud footsteps behind us have faded into the night, thank God. 'Stay here,' warns Calypso, 'I'll see if it's safe.'

Piper and I crouch behind a bush - not an ideal hiding place - whilst Calypso leaves, flashing us ten fingers to indicate she'll be ten minutes, max.

She's not back after fifteen.

My legs are cramping, I need to pee, and I'm tired beyond comprehension. 'Come on,' I plead to Piper, 'I need to stretch my legs, and they obviously aren't there! I know the way. Trust me, we'll be fine.' Finally, she acquiesces, and we head off into the undergrowth. I don't actually know where we're going, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

It's not fine.

Piper's pretty mad with me for getting us lost.

'You _idiot,_ Leo! This is your fault!' she shouts, the words pounding against my throbbing skull. 'You should never have gotten drunk! That's so irresponsible, and do you even _realise_ how this has affected us, and...' I let her voice beat on and on and on, splinters of pain hammering into my brain with every word.

'Piper, I can't do this now-' I start to groan, but she interrupts me.

'Well, you should have controlled yourself in the nightclub! God, do you know how much you drunk? You're lucky to be _alive!_ '

'I think that's taking it a bit far-'

'And then when _she_ sang and you couldn't stop staring! It didn't _help_ the _situation_!'

'Piper, calm down. Stop shouting.' Her face is flushed and her hair is tangled and sticking up, but the way her eyes are flashing...she can be terrifying when she wants to.

'Leo Valdez, don't you _dare_ tell me to calm down.' Her voice has gone down several decibels, but it has a hard, metallic edge to it.

Crap. I'm in trouble now.

Calypso saves me, by bursting into the clearing where we stand. 'Thank you!' I gasp.

'Normally, I'd leave you to face the music, but we've gotta get a move on.' I nod, like I know what I'm talking about, and we set off again.

The forest is dark and creepy, and I can't stop hearing strange noises. It's giving me the creeps, big time. 'Um - are you sure -' Piper begins.

'Yes!' Calypso interrupts her. 'Anyway, this is a good place to go. Lots of hiding spots.'

We walk a little further, but I'm too jumpy and on edge to appreciate the wonder that is the forest at night. That's when I hear it. Not a figment of my imagination, or the product of too many horror movies, an honest-to-god, super-scary sound of footsteps. Lots of them. Trying to be quiet, but failing. 'Move!' I whisper. 'I hear something!'

'I hear it too...' Calypso looks at me. Then we run. 'I know somewhere we can go,' says Calypso as we run, not out of breath at all, 'but it's not going to be pretty.' Piper and I nod. Anything to get away from the relentless sound of footsteps chasing us mercilessly.

Calypso skids to a halt, so suddenly that I crash into her and Piper has to grab my arm to stop me from falling. 'Calypso - what -'

'Down here!' She's whispering furiously, urgently, desperately. I look where she's pointing. A hole, so deep I can't see the bottom, and only just wide enough for one person to squeeze down at a time. Panic rises in me, and I back away.

'No, no, no, no!' I cry, not worrying about the level of my voice.

'What is it?' Calypso sounds irritated, impatient.

'Fear of heights,' I say sheepishly, and she sighs.

'Fine, we'll keep going.'

We continue to run, and we must have gone a really long way, because finally we burst out from the trees. In front of us looms...the fair? We've come full circle! I'm guessing it's about five or six o'clock, so not bad really.

Calypso cuts a hole in the fence, which allows us passage through to the fairground. I look around, wonder breaking out on my face as I take in my surroundings. Then, all of a sudden, two silent agents blast through our hole.

They stand facing us, guns held out in front of them. One has a silvery beard, the other curly blond hair, covered by dark clothes and hats. 'We only want to talk,' begins Beard, and Blondie nods his agreement.

'Oh yeah? Then why'd you have guns?' blurts out Piper, and I wince, wishing she hadn't spoken, as both guys spin round to face her.

'Honey, it's just a safety protocol,' Blondie has a horrible deep, gravelly voice, and I want to punch him. 'We'd never hurt _your_ pretty little face.' I want to punch him even more.

Calypso takes her chance and sprints at him from behind, a silent menace, kicking him hard in the back. He falls to the floor, winded, and his gun skitters across the floor towards me. Instinctively, I grab it. Calypso whirls, punching Beard so hard in the face I hear his jaw crack. He too collapses, unconscious.

A triumphant smile begins to spread across Calypso's face, but it ends all too soon as Blondie struggles to his feet and lands a blow to her neck, sending her to the ground. 'Little girls should know their place,' he hisses, and raises his gun. Piper roars defiantly and hurls a rock at his head, knocking him out cold. She runs to Calypso and begins to drag her away, motioning for me to follow. I stay still, like a statue, like a block of marble, lifeless, frozen, immobile as stone.

My fingers curl around the gun. I remove it slowly, slowly from behind my back. Instead of aiming it at the agents, however, I point it at the weak beam in the Ferris wheel behind them.

I squeeze the trigger.

The bang ricochets around the fairground; loud, but not as loud as the _creeeeeeeeaaaak - CRASH!_ of the wheel falling, burying the agents under a mound of rubble.

I stand there, silent, shocked, disbelieving. Behind me, I hear footsteps - _tap tap, tap tap, tap tap_ \- clattering against the rubble. I whirl around, ready to fight, but two pairs of shocked eyes stare back at me. Oh. It's just Piper and Calypso.

'I'll give you two some space,' Piper says, stepping back until she's out of earshot.

'Leo?' Calypso asks, a disbelieving look on her dirt-smeared face. 'You - you did this?'

'I - yeah, I did,' I reply, surveying the carnage, I've caused. Why did I do that? Why, why, why did I think it was a good idea?

A cold breeze strokes its icy fingers through my hair, and whips around the stars, disturbing the perfectly still night. 'Yeah,' I repeat, 'I did this.' As I watch, a flame sputters to life and then dies again amongst the wreckage. There's a flame in Calypso's eyes too, a flame of...anger? Sadness? Disappointment?

'Leo...' she sighs. 'I - I'm sorry, but I can't - I mean, we can't-'

'No, wait!' I sound desperate, needy, but I can't help it.

'I'm sorry...' she repeats. Then, she turns away from me one last time, and walks away. I watch as she disappears towards the sunrise, not even noticing the tear tracking down my face.

I stand for a moment, frozen, frozen in time, frozen in space, frozen in memory. Then I begin to move, to sprint towards Calypso's retreating figure. The sun is rising, sending orange, red, pink glows of light over my skin, my hair, my clothes. 'Calypso!' I call, desperate, hopeful. 'Calypso! Please!' The wind steals my words, carries them softly, takes them to her. In the distance, I see her stop. Still. The world is still. And she turns. I run, faster, faster, faster, and she gets closer, closer, closer - and then we meet. Meet in the middle.

'I'm sorry,' I say, 'I was stupid and foolish and childish and- will you forgive me?' She starts to say something but I stop her. 'There's more.' I take a deep breath. 'This is going to sound crazy, and I know we've only just met, but I've fallen in love with you. And I wasn't sure how to say it, and I thought what I did back there would impress you, but I don't know! And - I love the way your hair looks in the wind, and your eyes glint at me, and you stamp your foot when you're angry. And I love the way you have a bashed up old car, and work in a bookstore-slash-cafe, and I - I love _you._ '

She stares. Then - then she kisses me. And it's everything I ever dreamed. And more.

 **Thanks for reading this guys! Please leave a review and I love you all. Thanks.**


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